Dustin Poirier has been told moving up to welterweight for a fight against UFC rival Colby Covington is a risky move.
Former two-time lightweight title challenger Poirier has been trying to book a fight since his submission loss to Charles Oliveira last December. He has been piling on muscle ahead of a move to 170lb, which created interest in a fight with Covington.
Covington outpointed Poirier's teammate Jorge Masvidal in his most recent fight and called for a clash with 'The Diamond' after his win. Poirier is reluctant to fight Covington as he strongly dislikes him and doesn't want the top welterweight to make money off of his name.
Now-retired UFC champion Michael Bisping thinks Poirier wouldn't be smart to fight Covington as a loss could have major implications on his title hopes. “Going up a weight division against Colby Covington, if he loses that, it could have real implications on him getting a title fight again,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel.
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"He wants to be active. He wants to keep earning. He wants to keep fighting, wants to keep making money and setting himself up for the future but going up to 170, putting on 15 pounds. Whilst me as a fan, I would love to see that, I don’t know if it’s the smartest move.”
“If he goes out there and beats Colby Covington, that makes him one of the top contenders at welterweight. Is that what he wants? Does he want to be fighting Masvidal, Kamaru Usman or even Khamzat Chimaev? I’m not sure that he is. He’s not a small lightweight, he wouldn’t be a small welterweight, but he’d certainly be smaller than those guys."
Poirier has never competed at 170-pounds in his MMA career, starting as a featherweight in the UFC before later moving up to 155-pounds. After two unsuccessful bids at the lightweight belt, he wants to capture gold in a new division but Bisping thinks a loss to Covington could be detrimental for Poirier.
"God forbid if he was to lose, I think it would affect his standing in the lightweight division," Bisping added. "He was saying that the UFC were offering him a No. 1 contender at lightweight at the end of the year. If he was to lose to Colby, there’s a possibility you won’t be in a No. 1 contender fight."
